


Unknown Horizons

by ShokoBean



Category: Splatoon
Genre: And don't forget the useless lesbians!, Buckle in folks this will become a wild ride eventually lmao, F/F, More characters might be added eventually, Rewrite but not really cause it's a completely new story, aw rats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-09-29 19:25:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17209520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShokoBean/pseuds/ShokoBean
Summary: After several months Agent Three finally returns from her mission, just to find out that many things have changed in her home. While she struggles to adjust, she is also plagued by the knowledge of a danger that lingers at the edge of the world they know.





	1. Old friends, new faces

**Author's Note:**

> It is I, the garbage flower, how's it going. I have returned, with the same old useless lesbians, but a new story. Enjoy!

Crisp autumn air filled Inkopolis, and a chilly wind made colorful leaves dance through the streets. The early morning left the trees and spare greenery doting the streets covered  in dew. 

One Inkling hurried through the morning, her step brisk and her face a grimask as the light fog in the air caught in her clothes and dampened them. Fortunately for her, she reached her destination soon. An empty plaza, a proud tower overseeing it all. The place was empty, except one lonely girl standing in front  of the tower, looking up with a wistful expression. The sound of hurried steps caught her attention, and she turned to the newcomer. A brief flash of recognition flashed through her eyes, and she lifted a hand in a short greeting. 

While the newcomer approached, the second inkling allowed herself another glance around Inkopolis Plaza.

“Have I really been away that long?” she asked quietly, slowly turning to her friend. 

She blinked. At least she didn’t change, at least on the outside. Still the same white hair with the green tips, in the same hair-do as always, with the same green hat and jacket and same white mask. 

“Well. It  _ has _ been four months. And the people already started to leave towards the square while you were here. Really it was just a matter of time…” she trailed off at the end. She could tell that ehr musings were clearly not very welcome. A quick, awkward cough escaped her throat. 

“Well,”  _ Uhg. Repetition.  _ “At least you’re back now. We’ve missed you, Three.” A mischievous spark entered her eyes. “Especially Callie.”

Her reward was a long drawn groan, and she grinned with an evil glee, knowing her mask hid most of her face. 

“Shut up, nerd. You sure sounded happy talking about that new agent of yours. Speaking of, you wanted me to meet her, no?”

_ Twitch. _ That’s all reaction she got from Marie, just a small twitch of her ears, but it was enough. 

“ _ Watch it, short stuff. _ ”

Agent Three cackled unconcealed. She could even forgive the jab at her height, something she rarely let go.

“Let's just go, we'll be late.” 

 

The way to the new Inkopolis Square was thankfully not too long, although it was still early and cold, something the two agents were both quite miffed about. 

Yet, the sight of a bouncing, excited Callie greeting them made them both forget miserable weather.

Agent Three always wondered how no one recognised her in her outfit, since she wasn't really trying to hide her true persona from the world.

Oh well, as long as it worked, who was she to complain?

Then she noticed something was different. Three squinted in confusion. 

Callie always wore shades with her outfit.

Except today.

A big, dark red bandana hid most of her face, which was weird because Callie loved her shades and she hated bandanas because she said they made her feel too hot underneath and- 

Her derailing train of thoughts was cut off by Callie, who literally jumped at the younger agent and wrapped her into a tight hug.

“Tessa! I missed you so much!”

Her ears twitched intensely hearing her own name. It seemed so long since she last heard it.  Captain Cuttlefish insisted on calling her by her agent name.

Hearing Callie of all people say it now send a rush of emotions through her body that left her feeling high in her head and weak in her knees.

“You just saw me yesterday when I came back-”

“But that wasn't long enough! We only brought you home!”

Marie rolled her eyes at the two girls, who both were painfully oblivious to their obvious feelings for each other.

Maybe it wasn't surprising that Callie couldn't figure it out, but Tessa seemed be outright  _ denying  _ that Callie had any kind of feelings for her.

“Alright, you're very happy to see each other, I get it, can we please get going,  _ people are staring, guys.” _

The last part got at least Tessa to wiggle away from the hug, face flushed.

Marie pointedly ignored the pout on Callies face and walked past the two towards the entrance to Octo Canyon.

 

The first thing Tessa saw when she stumbled out of the sewer mbled out of the sewer was  _ yellow.  _ A  _ lot.  _ Of yellow. 

The entire place was covered in - was that _glitter_? \- yellow ink. The ground, the small cabin in the corner, the boulders, even the damn trees were dripping. 

_ What in the goddamn- _

Behind her, the sounds of moving ink told her that the other two agents had arrived. The then following silence told her that this wasn’t what they had expected either. 

“That absolute madwoomy she actually did it.” breathed Callie behind her.

Seconds later the sound of an inkling soaring through air alerted their gazes to the sky, where they saw a squid in the air, already changing their color from green to a bright yellow. As they neared the ground, they changed into a humanoid form, and seconds later landed on the ink covered ground, perfectly balanced.

_ Showoff.  _

As the inkling popped took out her earphones, a few notes of Calamari Inkantation were heard, before the music was shut off.

Tessa took a moment to take in the new agent. She was tall. Very tall. Was this Maries way to get another jab at her height? 

The next thing she noticed after her height were her short tentacles - specifically the frontal left one. It was...oddly colored. Much lighter than the other ones. The yellow made it seem almost white. There was also a small scar on her chin. It look faded and old.

Despite her rather brute looking appearance, there was a bright smile on her face as she greeted the three agents, who had been stunned into silence by the whole situation.

“Hey! Sheldon told me you guys were coming, so I came here as soon as possible. Was just finishing off the rest of the inkjob.”

“You painted more than this?” Marie sounded extremely exasperated.

“Oh yes absolutely. I spent the whole morning on it.”

“Fucking amazing.”

 

A little while later the four agents sat gathered in front of the cabin, sharing stories from the past months. 

“So what was your mission about, Tessa? Grandpa didn't tell us anything! Was it that much of a secret.”

Tessa almost choked on the drink she was sipping, but managed to compose herself quickly enough to not make the others question her. Yet she felt Four stare at her with an eerie, suspicious gaze. 

_ Dangerously observant, _ she noted mentally

“Oh, it was really boring honestly. Mostly some research, going through reports, checking everything out that we were supposed to check. It was long but not really exciting, nothing happened, honestly.” 

She prayed that she sounded casual, that the others would just buy it and not question her any further.

“You were gone for four months for nothing?” Callie questioned, thus denying her prayers to be answered.

“Seems like it.”

“Really nothing interesting? How didn't you die of boredom? Gramps is not really a guy to have fun with.” The last comment got Marie a punch from her cousin, to which she only grinned. “You know it's true, Cal.”

“Well,” Tessa said, rummaging in her memory, “the people everywhere were really nice. There was this one dude who was really cool, he told me he was travelling around. He had a lot of stories! He said he'd come to Inkopolis eventually to visit his sister, maybe I can introduce y'all then, you'll love him.”

She was completely oblivious to the shadow passing over Callie's face while she talked.

 

“So,” Tessa finally said, looking at Marie, “how come we’re four now?”

There was a instant shift in the mood. Agent Four quietly looked at some birds flying by. Marie shifted uncomfortably, her whole body suddenly tensed up. Callie just looked very confused at Marie, but didn’t dare to say anything yet. 

“Wellllll, the work was getting a lot, y’know, and me and Callie are real busy, y’know. So we. Got Four here to help out.”

“Marie.”

“Yes.” 

“You’re still a terrible liar.”

“I know.”

Finally Callie spoke up, voice quiet and eyes nervously flitting between her to friends. 

“Marie, why didn’t you tell her…?”

The other girl stayed silent, her gaze averted and body tense. After a while, without looking at anyone, she spoke up again.

“Gramps said you were busy and that your mission was important. And I didn’t want you to get upset and worried, and you had to focus, and I had anything under control anyway-”

“ _ Just tell me what happened, for fucks sake _ !”

Marie flinched, and when she looked at Tessa, she looked scared, and guilty, a lot more emotions that mixed in her face. It was probably the most expressive that she had ever seen her. In that moment, she cared little about that though.

It was Callie again who finally explained.

“About a month after you and Gramps left… Octavio escaped. Afterwards he kidnapped the Great Zapfish… and me too.”

There was silence. The kind of silence that felt incredibly loud. The calm before the storm, if you will.

Tessa was just staring at Callie. She felt blood rushing through her eyes, and an intense, angry heat welling up inside of. She felt an intense mix of emotions shoot through her.

Rage.

Confusion.

Hurt.

Betrayal.

She looked at Marie. Golden eyes full of guilt. A traitor.

“Why.”

Her voice sounded hollow and empty and yet had the edge of held-back emotions. 

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“I wanted to! I just didn't know how… I couldn't risk that you abandoned the mission and gramps, just to run home like a headless chicken to save her!” 

Another silence. Longer. Deafening.

Tessa got up.

“I'm going.”

“Where?”

“Home.”

She didn't look back as she walked to the sewer. 

“Tessa, I'm sor-”

Marie watched her disappear before she could finish her sentence.

  
  



	2. Tessa is not okay

The quiet music of a radio floated through a dark and empty apartment. 

Well, almost empty. There was an inkling, lying on a couch in the middle of the room. One of her long tentacles hung down, hitting the ground. The usual bright orange color head completely turned into a dark and muddled brown. She cared little, her eyes glued to the ceiling. The songs that played were unfamiliar to her, new upcoming bands that she didn't know and didn't much care for. Also a surprising, but for once welcomed lack of Squid Sisters song.

She closed her eyes and shifted her arm to hide them.

Four months. Had they really not been gone longer? Everything was suddenly foreign to her.

It was true that changes had begone before she left on her mission, but she had never expected so much to suddenly.

_ New weapons new places new music new people  _ **_new agent._ **

Her teeth gritted as the disconnected thought flew through her mind, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

Why didn't Marie tell her? Did she think she wouldn't have been able to handle it? Was she weak in her eyes? Was that one mission really more important than her saving Callie?

_ It was and you know that better than everyone else. _

“Shut the fuck up.” she said to no one but herself.

She didn't want to think of the mission. Not yet. Cuttlefish told her to stay quiet, and so she did. If she thought too much, she would surely tell someone in the end.

_ No need to stir panic if there might be no reason to. _

**_There's a reason and you know it._ **

“Coddamnit.” 

She felt sick to her stomach. She felt so alone. Angry. Scared. Confused. She felt so many things she didn't want.

She felt like an outsider. Everything was different. Callie and Marie were different, shaped by experiences she was no part of.

_ What, you wanna be a part of a traumatic experience? Nice going champ. _

Maybe that was true. She was being selfish. Only thinking about herself. Throwing herself a pathetic pity-party. Those two probably went through hell and back and all she did was get angry at them for not telling her.

God, she was such an asshole.

 

A sudden, very unexpected knock on the door woke her out of her self-pitying musings.

How dare they.

The girl groaned and heaved herself up, heavy steps moving towards the door. Whoever was behind it was hopefully leaving again soon.

The moment Tessa opened the door she knew that that wouldn't be the case. In front of her loomed the massive figure of Agent Four, and even the genuine friendly smile did nothing to make her seem less intimidating.

“Why are you so fucking tall.”

“My parents rolled me through a pasta machine as kid and then pumped me full of ink and air.”

Four didn't even blink when she said that. She had looked Tessa straight in the eye and said one of the most horrifying things she had ever heard without missing a beat.

Tessa snorted, and actually had to fight back a hysterical giggle she could feel coming up.

Vienne's expression barely changed, aside from gleeful look in her eyes at the girls barely contained laughter. Or maybe it was because she saw her tentacles shift from a muddy brown to a slightly more orangy tone. 

“I'll take that you get questions like that a lot.” 

“You are correct. I assume that you do too, although they're probably not about how tall you are.”

Tessa felt her ears twitch in irritation.

“Alright, we get it, I'm really short, you're really tall, we've mentioned it enough now, I think even the last idiot has understood now.”

She huffed in annoyance, crossed her arms and squinted at Four.

“What are you even doing here? How do you know where I live?”

“Callie told me your address. And I'm here because you haven't answered any text apparently and in general haven't shown your face around, so everyone's worried about you.”

Tessa looked away, guilt flooding her mind.

“Well now you can tell them that I'm fine and that they don't need to worry.”

“But are you really?”

“What?”

“Are you really fine?”

“That's none of your concern!” 

“Since you are my fellow agent, it is very much my concern. Furthermore, Callie and Marie are my friends, and since they are my friends, it's my concern for their sake as well.”

“Fucking hell, stop talking like that, all posh and shit, it's giving me a headache.”

Four grinned brightly. “As you wish!”

Tessa sighed deeply, before looking Agent Four up and down for a while. She noticed that her tentacles were pink now. The discoloration of the frontal one was less noticeable now, but still visible.

“You know, I never caught your name the other day.”

“Oh! It's Vienne.”

“Huh. That's a nice name.”

“Thanks!”

A moment of silence followed, neither of them having more to say. At last, Tessa coughed awkwardly and stepped aside.

“So, uh… wanna come inside?” 

________________________

An hour later the two inklings were spread across Tessa's couch, watching credits role for the third episode of a cartoon that Vienne had brought along. She even had snacks. It was surprising how well prepared she was.

“I don't know,” Tessa started slowly, “I still like anime better, no offense.”

Vienne scoffed. “Of course you do, Edgelord 9000.”

“ _ Excuse me, _ it's “Demonkiller69”. At least get it right if you have to insult me.”

Bickering with Vienne was fun. She didn't feel like she to tiptoe around her own words or worry too much about what she said like she usually did with everyone else. There was something relaxing about the inkling. Something soothing, calming. It had been a while since Tessa had a friend like that.

Friend. Were they friends? They barely knew each other, and yet it felt like they had already spent a lifetime together. 

Tessa chuckled for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

“I gotta apologise to Callie and Marie. I was a total dick to them.”

Vienne looked over at her in slight surprise.

“Where's that coming from so suddenly?”

“I don't know. I guess I just wanna talk about my feelings. Which is weird, because I never wanna do that.”

The short inkling looked to the ground, her fingers fiddling with each other.

“It's just… I was gone for only four months, but I come back and… everything is different. No one is at the plaza anymore. There are new weapons and specials that I don't understand yet. New bands and new music. Off the Hook are the news announcer now. It's like I just got hit in the face with everything at once, instead of having a slow change.”

She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts and words.

“And Callie got kidnapped and it's just… I don't know, it hurts. That no one told me. I could have helped. I could have done  _ something _ probably. But Marie probably just thought I'd freak out. Which I did. She was probably right when she didn't tell me. I just caused a huge scene, and yet they're - and you too! - are the ones that went through all of this.” 

Silence followed for a long time, with Tessa fighting hot tears that threatened to spill.

Suddenly she felt a careful hand rubbing her back.

“It's understandable that you're angry. This was a matter of the Squidbeak Splatoon, and yet you were the only one left out of it. You feel like you're not truly a part of any group anymore. It's okay that you're angry Tessa. I'd be too. It's better you are angry and tell me now instead of bottling it up and exploding eventually.”

Those words were enough to break down the last of the older agents defences. She started sobbing, tears running down her face faster than she could wipe them off. 

 

The two girls sat together for a long time, Tessa crying and sobbing her heart out, while Vienne comforted her. The sky was already darkening when she finally calmed down, only a few hiccups escaping her now and then. 

“How are you feeling?” 

Tessa sniffed and rubbed her red, hurting eyes.

“Tired and kinda empty, but better. A lot better. It was good to get… all of it of my chest for once.”

Vienne blinked. There was hesitation in her voice. She could see guilt in her amber eyes.

“It wasn't all of it, was it?”

The way Tessa flinched and her face turned orange with shame was enough.

“I won't ask, if you don't want to talk about it. But you know I'm always listening.”

The older agent stared at the ground, her brows furrowed, chewing her lips, and her tentacles swaying frantically.

“This is… kind of a different problem. I don't even know if it is a problem. If it is, you'll find out eventually.”

“Alright then.” With that, the topic was suddenly dismissed and Vienne got up to stretch herself.

“Wellll then, are you free tomorrow? Maybe I can show you old school squid what the new kids do around the square.”

She received a skeptical raised eyebrow. “Old school? I'm only a few months older than you.” She chuckled briefly. “But sure. Let's do that. Meet me at the square in front of Ammo Knights tomorrow?”

“Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please join my Discord https://discord.gg/N8m69xT


	3. Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this one is kinda boring I apologize for that

“Are you sure about this?” Tessa cautiously eyed the two weapons in her hands. 

“They feel… weird. They’re so light.”

“Oh don't worry, dualies are perfect for you! Since you're small and light, you'll be even harder to hit with them! Don't give me that look, I  _ complimented _ your height.” 

The older inkling scoffed and continued to examine the unfamiliar weapon.

“So you have two guns with short range and little damage, but fast fire, am I correct? Plus the ability to… dodge roll? That's certainly interesting.” 

“Yep! These are just the splat version they have burst bombs and tenta missiles.”

Tessa nodded at the information and looked at Vienne. 

“So we gonna go right into Turf? It's been a while since I last battled, so I'll be rusty anyway. Might as well use these things so I can have a better excuse why I'm  bad.” 

“Excellent plan right there. Turf War it is!”

_________________________________

 

 Tessa was not ashamed to admit that her first few battles with the dualies hadn't been very successful. 

Okay maybe she was a little ashamed.

The fact that she could shoot in two directions confused her immensely, she constantly misjudged weapons range, and the few times she uses the dodge, she just uselessly rolled around and in the end got splatted anyway. Not to mention the three times she rolled into water on Inkblot Art Academy.

Slowly (very slowly) but surely she started to get the hang of it. She even started to appreciate the dodge rolls to quickly get out of sticky situations. 

 Vienne would cheer on each of her successes, no matter how small they were. It actually made Tessa want to do even better, despite her frustrations with herself.

 

After several hours of training, battling, splatting and getting splatted, the two agents took a break for a late lunch, chattering away on their way to Crusty Seans truck.

“You're really good at the Charger, Tessa. How long have you been using it?”

Tessa, who had swapped her weapons a few times throughout the battles, grinned proudly. “Been sniping squids away since Sheldon let me use the weapon. I'm not gonna lie I was really bad in the beginning, but I just kept practicing. I bet you could be a great sniper too.”

Vienne snorted and shook her head, before flicking one of her short tentacles out of her face.

“Not a chance. I've tried, and others tried to teach me, but my shitty aim broke them all.”

“Aw c'mon, I could help you pra-” 

She froze. Something had brushed past her leg. 

Small. Fuzzy.

Fear flared up in her chest. She stumbled back, looking around wildly, her tentacles a writhing mess flaring in a bright orange.

A hand grabbed her shoulder, and spun around to face a worried Vienne.

“What's wrong?”

“There was- I don't know, something touched my leg-”

Somewhere in her mind Tessa knew she sounded ridiculous, freaking out over seemingly nothing, but in her mind she was plagued by possibilities unknown to the rest of the inklings. 

Someone guided her over to the tables set up nearby, gently pushing her down on a chair. 

She closed her eyes, inhaling slowly. _Calm down. It’s nothing._ _You’re just freaking out._

Her ears twitched as she heard steps coming towards her, and she slowly opened her eyes to find Vienne coming towards her with…  _ something  _ in her hand. 

“Not to worry m’lady, I have identified and captured the culprit.” She set whatever it was she was holding down in front of the older girl on the table. Tessa stared at the creature for a while.

“It...It looks like Judd. Is this Judd? Why is he so small? What happened to him?”

Confusion and concern tinted the older inklings voice, but a new voice chiming in made her both jump and feel relief.

“I'm right here and I'm fine, squiddo.”

With a soft ‘thud’, Judd landed on the table, petting the small version of himself on the head.

“This is Lil’ Judd. He's keeping me company, it gets lonely sometimes, being the only cat around here, y'know.” 

An awkward silence followed the grim reminder that most of the ancient creatures of the land were extinct.

“Anyways, I'm sorry the little one scared you. He doesn't always look where's going or what he's doing.”

Lil’ Judd completely ignored the glare that was send his direction and instead tried to paw at Tessa's tentacles.

“No, no, it's fine, I was just… confused, is all.” 

She coughed, knowing that neither Judd nor Vienne would buy that. Thankfully for her, neither of them questioned her. 

After a short chat with two cats, Judd took his… whatever he was by the paw and said his goodbyes, before returning to their usual spots near the tower.

Silence passed between the two inklings left behind, filled with awkward shuffling. 

Vienne hummed to herself, her gaze wandering off towards Ammo Knights.

“Hey, wanna take a lil’ walk through Octo Canyon?”

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

Octo Canyon was eerily silent and… empty. Vienne had been strangely silent as well all the way to the canyon, where she had eventually led her into one of the grids.

Tessa tightened her grip on the Hero Dualies that had been handed to her earlier. She expected an ambush to happen at any moment, but she couldn't hear, or see, or even smell anything, and she was proud to say that she probably had one of the best noses in Inkopolis. A weird thing to brag about, but Tessa didn't have many to begin with, and hey, beggars can't be choosers.

Tessa huffed at her inner rambles. It always happened when things were too quiet, and then her mental rambles would eventually take a turn down south.

So, desperate to break the silence, she cleared her throat and tried to catch Vienne's attention.

“So uh, kinda lonely round here, eh? Wassup with that?”

Vienne trudged on, her expression so unfittingly grim and a complete contrast from what Tessa had seen before.

“After we defeated and captured Octavio, most of the octarian forces fled. They need someone to lead them, to command them, to give them a goal. Without that they're helpless.”

The inkling came to a halt, staring off into the spacey surroundings of this part of the canyon.

“As for the octolings… Octavio controlled them. They've apparently developed technology for mind control. He… used it to control Callie as well.” There was a heavy pause between them as Tessa processed the new information.

“But- wait- that doesn't make sense, what about when I fought them two years ago?!”

“They were controlled back then as well. The technology wasn't as good, but-”

“But then why did they keep attacking after I defeated Octavio the first time?!”

“Because there's a second one.”

Something inside of Tessa froze, her mind racing for answers while she stared at Vienne.

“What do you me-”

“A second commander. He took over after Octavio was captured and took control of the octarian forces. He's the one who developed the mind-control technology in the first place.” Vienne turned around with a solemn expression. 

“Now bef

ore you ask why he isn't commanding them now, he fled, according to our informant.”

“Informant?”

“She was his assistant according to her. She's helping us to free the octolings that are still under the control of the second commander. Which brings us to the actual point of this conversation,” she paused and sighed deeply, as if talking was exhausting to her. “We're trying to bring the octolings to the surface and to Inkopolis. We've already started negotiations with government recently. It's really not hard if I'm honest, we got the Squid Sisters on our side and of course Off The Hook, and with Marina being a famous octoling we'll probably get that put of the way quickly. The problem,” another, deep sigh, “are the octolings. They're… confused, and frazzled. They're like headless chickens. They've been conditioned their whole life to fight and to follow orders. They've never had to make decisions for themselves. They're terrified of leaving this place and going into the unknown with no idea what to do and how to act.

They need our help.”

 

She finally turned completely towards Tessa, eyeing her carefully.

“Sorry, that was a lot of information. You doing okay?” 

Tessa was silent for a long time. She squinted, staring at a absolutely nothing, obviously deep in thought. Eventually she nodded to herself and turned to Vienne. 

“Aight, got it. Help the octolings settle in n’ stuff, we can do that.”

“It will be a bit more complicated than that, but yes, basically.” 

“Nice. Now that that's out of the way, where'd y'all hide Octavio before I got here? I'd really love to kick that slimy ol’ dipshit in the face til’ he's soup.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hewwo again I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, as per usual we get right into the drama.  
> Now on a completely different note, if you want to know more about the characters or share your own ideas and stories, please give my new discord a visit that I created for exactly this purpose. https://discord.gg/mVYjUdq


End file.
